March 23, 2021 · 7:01 am

Do You Have To Be Vegan To Be Saved?

This recent headline from Christianity Today magazine caught my attention.

Many Adventists in Asia and Africa Believe You Must Be Vegan to Be Saved

The article by Rebecca Randall says that “Seventh-day Adventists around the world have heeded their co-founder’s teachings on eating a plant-based diet, (and) many adherents in parts of Asia and Africa have raised veganism to a place next to godliness.”

According to Adventist research teams from 13 regions around the world, their members believe salvation is ensured two ways: through Jesus Christ (92%), and through giving up meat, animal products, alcohol, and tobacco (80%). Continue reading →

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March 22, 2021 · 5:53 am

Word of the Week: Celebrate

Ten-year-old Ange Shephard, who grew up in a small Nova Scotia town, became enamored with Southern California, and especially Los Angeles.

In his book Forward, David Jeremiah relates Ange’s story and how she would dial the 323 area code plus 7 random numbers, and when someone answered she’d say, “Hi, is this LA?”

Then she’d hang up, just thrilled to talk to someone from Los Angeles, dreaming one day of living there. Her calls, however, came to an abrupt end when her father saw the phone bill. But her dreams didn’t. Continue reading →

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March 21, 2021 · 3:21 am

Sunday Seed Thoughts: The Power of Worship

“The church doesn’t need more workers; it needs more worshipers,” once quipped Howard Hendricks.

I found that quote in my “worship” folder apart from the greater context. However, I doubt that Hendricks was diminishing the importance of working for the Lord, or minimizing the role of ministry, but rather elevating and emphasizing the power of worship. Continue reading →

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March 20, 2021 · 3:20 am

Weekly Recap: March 14-19

Good morning from Beverly Hills, Florida

We’ve been in our house for just over a month and it’s beginning to feel like home.   As much fun as it was traveling full time, it’s nice to be settled again and not be moving to another location today.

Today’s recap features a rather eclectic variety of posts on topics that you will find interesting and edifying.  If you missed one, this is a good way to catch up.

Also, today is the online funeral service for Ed Harrell.  Thursday’s post provides information on accessing that service Continue reading →

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March 19, 2021 · 3:19 am

Friday’s List To Live By #31

Our Wednesday night class at West Citrus is studying the book of James and using Wilson Adams’ fine class book, The Case For Practical Christianity.

In lesson #2 we studied what Wilson called “one of those ‘raise your eyebrow verses.’”

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jas 1:3-4).

Today’s list comes from Wilson’s answer to the question, “How can there be ‘joy’ in troubles? Continue reading →

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March 18, 2021 · 3:18 am

In Honor and Memory of Ed Harrell

Author, historian, University professor,  gospel preacher, and our beloved brother in Christ, David Edwin Harrell, Jr. passed from this life to his eternal reward last Monday afternoon, March 15th.

Today there will be a short graveside service for brother Harrell at 2:00 p.m. at Mandarin Cemetery in Jacksonville. Saturday, there will be an online service that you can register to view by linking here.

Almost 20 years my senior, I have known Ed Harrell since my college years. Like anyone who knew him, I was impressed with his unique intellectual insights combined with genuine humility. Sometimes preachers with educational credentials take simple truths and complicate them. Ed possessed the ability to simplify the complex. Continue reading →

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March 17, 2021 · 8:35 am

A Passage To Ponder: Luke 4:13

There’s an old joke about a young newly-wed sitting at his desk paying bills when he came to the credit card statement. As he scanned through the charges he noticed a charge of $250 on his wife’s card from a department store. He hollered for his wife to join him.

“How could you spend $250 at a department store?” he asked.

“Well,” she said, “I was standing in the store looking for a dress. Then, I found myself trying it on. It was like the devil whispering to me, ‘You look really good in this dress. You should buy it.’” Continue reading →

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March 16, 2021 · 8:04 am

Are You Hearing the Voice of God?

Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has received an inordinate amount of press coverage and publicity. Less so, was her interview Sunday with “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Known as people of faith, Oprah asked them to explain how they hear God’s voice, Is it a “voice in your head, is it a feeling, is it prayer? Continue reading →

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March 15, 2021 · 9:00 am

Word of the Week: Finish

In “The Greatest Finish Fails in Sports History,” Andrew Daniels relates numerous stories of runners, cyclists, and ballplayers who celebrated their victory too early, only to lose.

In the men’s 800 meters at the 2014 Shanghai Diamond League meet, Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi stuck out his arms and his tongue just before crossing the finish line and watched his first-place finish get usurped by Kenyan Robert Biwott.

In 2015, The University of Oregon’s Tanguy Pepiot was set to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2015 Pepsi Team Invitational. However, when he urged the crowd at Hayward Field to cheer him on, he slowed down just enough for The University of Washington’s Meron Simon to sprint past him in the final meters and snatch a last-second win. Continue reading →

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March 14, 2021 · 3:14 am

Sunday Seed Thoughts: Using Time

“Daylight saving time: Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket,” quipped one anonymous sage.

And so, the moans, groans, and debates begin over the efficacy of DST after “losing” an hour of sleep last night.

Although, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a supporter of DSL opined: “The next generation…would be better for having had this extra hour of daylight in their childhood.”

More importantly, however, is this issue: How are you spending your time? No, how are you investing your time Continue reading →

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